Last week we released consumer research revealing that nearly 90% of people in the UK want to take control of the type and timing of the promotional messages they receive.

Our online survey of 300 UK consumers found the overwhelming majority want an alternative to regular targeted promotions. 86% would be interested in a service that enables the requesting of offers for relevant products, in real-time, and almost half (48%) said that the targeted offers they receive at present are not relevant.

The shift in consumer attitudes that will support advances in VRM (Vendor Relationship Management) presents a huge opportunity for businesses that market better, and that properly eliminate waste: to get ahead of the competition by offering a better experience to their customers.

You can read more about the research in our press release.

The recent announcement of Jones Lang LaSalle and Arup’s appointment to the task of regenerating Tottenham, after last year’s riots, has got us thinking about ways to power up the regeneration.

The brief to JLL & Arup (online at london.gov.uk) includes the task of stimulating “investment at key locations” and ensuring “Tottenham makes a good first impression”.

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VCCP‘s latest work with Hiscox is intriguing. The May 2012 TV ad is clear: Hiscox aren’t selling low cost, speed, convenience or even – quite – great customer service; they’re selling moral fibre.

Leading on a positive honourable relationship, between brand and consumer, makes a lot of sense in the financial services sector, where we know trust has been damaged. More FS brands would be attempting the same perhaps, if it weren’t such a high risk strategy. A business has to be squeaky clean – and stay that way – for their brand successfully to adopt a moral positioning. (The Co-op does it; anyone else in FS?)

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The Sonos ads on the tube at the moment are good, but this execution in particular is brilliant.

• It’s both super-confident and charming (‘TADA.’), which makes it compelling.
• The ad proves the quality of the product in it’s own right: you don’t actually have to google ‘Sonos reviews’.
• If you do google ‘sonos reviews’, you’ll see good reviews alongside a host of prices and purchase options. It launches consumers straight through consideration and into purchase, via cost effective brand search traffic.
• It says, “We’re clever and modern. We’ve got search and online PR totally sown up.”

A particularly clever client put an interesting problem our way recently. They’d run a web content split test using Google’s Website Optimizer, but they’d included as one content variation a copy of the original: it was an A/A/B test, set up to test the testing tool.

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The QR code is an increasingly common sight; it can be a valuable tool for marketers. Too often, however, QR codes are being put to poor use, offering limited value to the consumer, and doing nothing for an advertiser’s brand or bottom line.

I was handed a flyer this week, promoting a new band or album or something. At the bottom, alongside the URL, and the Facebook and twitter handles, was the QR code. I took out my phone and scanned the code. It was printed very small, so it took a moment to scan, but then… the homepage of the band’s website; hard to read, not mobile-optimised. I felt slightly disappointed at my wasted effort. I did not click on the website.

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On Friday, Orange launched their contactless payment system, Quick Tap, in conjunction with Barclaycard, on the Samsung Tocco Lite handset.

There are at least ten other distinct brands involved in Orange’s leap into new territory. Nine are working together:

• Orange, and Quick Tap’s leading partner, Barclaycard
• the providers of the handset technology, Samsung, and
• at least six retail brands supporting the initiative by taking payments via the new contactless system

In Orange here’s a brand, driven by developments in technology, assuming a new role as banking provider – virtually, as far as consumers care.

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If the deal goes ahead, it’ll be Microsoft’s biggest ever acquisition.  A more skeptical write-up in the Guardian has analysts apparently

“shocked” at what they think is a “substantial overpayment for the company”, but it’s not surprising to hear Microsoft may be enthusiastic about committing to Skype.

As Google Apps and a throng of popular cloud computing productivity services grow their presence and market share Microsoft is wise to be looking for a solid technology with which to entrench:  Skype is the dominant player in its space, with nearly as many registered users as Facebook.

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